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THE GAME OF CROQUET; 


ITS 

APPOINTMENT AND LAWS; 


WITH DESCRIPTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS. 


By R. FELLOW. 


S' 


NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON. 
401 Broadway, cor. Walker Street. 

1865. 


GrV^3? 


04 


* 


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 
Hurd and Houghton, 

in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 

District of New York, 


RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE! 


\ 


STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY 
H. 0. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 


PREFACE. 


In the following handbook I have endeavored 
to give a concise but thorough and intelligent account 
of the method in which the game of Croquet is 
played, the laws that regulate it, and the best form 
that the implements take. The game is so simple 
and easily understood, that only the ingenuity of 
ambitious commentators can invest it with any ap¬ 
pearance of difficulty. Whilst, therefore, in the Laws, 
I have wished to cover all contingencies, I have not 
thought it either necessary or helpful to the player to 
burden him with a formidable array of regulations; 
besides, if would be a pity to strip Croquet of one 
of its liveliest features, namely, the trial of wits to 
settle delicate questions. It is hoped that exactness 
of description, absence of confusing and useless tech¬ 
nicalities, and comprehensiveness unite to make the 
handbook as accurate and thorough as the existing 
state of the game will permit; but perfection cannot 
be hoped for in the infancy of Croquet, and I shall be 
happy to receive suggestions of improvement from 
any expert. R. F. 





































I k I 






' 


















- 





CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


I. Introduction . 

.... 

. 7 

II. Implements . 

, . . . 

10 

1. Balls . 



2. Mallets . 

• • • • 

11 

3. Arches 

. . . , 

. 12 

4. Stakes 

• • • • 

13 

III. Croquet Ground . 

• . . . 

. 14 

IV. Conduct of the Game 

• 

15 

V. Laws .... 


. 18 

1. The Start 

. . . . 

18 

2. Order of Play . 

. . . . 

. 19 

3. Arches . 

. 

20 

4. Stakes . 

. 

. 21 

5. Roquet . 

. 

22 

6. Croquet 

. 

. 22 

7. Royer 

. 

23 

8. Interruption and 

Displacement . 

. 23 

VI. Variations of the Game 

. 

25 

VII. Hints to Players 

. 

. 28 

/HI. Terms. 

. 

30 









' 

i*» ' ' • . 









. 


















































































































CROQUET. 


It is the charm of Croquet that it is so simple 
that a looker-on even may learn the car- _ , 

dinal points in a single game, and yet so tion - 
perpetually fresh that one may see a party that has 
played all the afternoon, groping about in the dusk 
and knocking the balls almost at random for the sake 
of one more game, or rushing out of doors at the 
first holding up of a rain-storm, clad in water-proofs 
and india-rubbers, to start the balls on their mazy 
round. Happy those who make up the party, and 
not wholly unblest those who watch the game, for 
there is nothing in it to mystify a beholder, — no in¬ 
scrutable bowlings and runnings, and jargon of slang, 
such as makes the ignorant spectator of cricket stu¬ 
pidly wonder at the inexplicable enthusiasm of the 
cricketers. 

The popularity of Croquet is easier to account for 
than its origin. All of a sudden there appear upon 
the surface of England, and now also here and there 
in America, numberless little arches and stakes, while 
excited people armed with mallets drive colored balls 



8 


CROQUET. 


through the arches and at the stakes hour after hour. 
Nobody knows how the game started; they only 
know that it is great fun. Nobody even knows why 
this ingenious combination should be called CroquH 
at all. In vain the Frenchman bows to the Eng¬ 
lishman and thanks him for the game, and would he 
be so kind as to say what possible connection there 
can be between knocking the balls about in the pre¬ 
scribed manner, and the process of crackling, of 
devouring, of making a first sketch in drawing, of 
filching or pilfering, — all of which significations the 
verb croquet enjoys ? The Englishman thanks the 
Frenchman for the word, and can only offer the still 
more mysterious explanation afforded by the noun 
croquet , a hard gingerbread nut. Roquet serves us 
no better, for what likeness is there between a pug- 
dog and that musical sound of the clacking of two 
balls ? 

We must leave the name and origin of the game 
to be fought over in Notes and Queries; and as for 
the significance of it, we wait patiently for some 
philosopher to expound the subtle manner in which 
the game sets forth the epic course of life, where 
each player starts like the rest, each makes the arches 
of triumph or affliction, each passes the critical turn¬ 
ing stake, and each at last goes out as a dead ball, 
while all, friends or enemies, exert or are subject to 
influence from one another. We leave to the mor- 


CROQUET. 


9 


alist to expatiate on the value of the game as a trial 
of virtue. To what sudden perils is one exposed of 
losing his amiability ; how trying it is when one’s 
ball is in some hardly earned position, to see it ruth¬ 
lessly knocked to the end of the field by a merciless 
enemy, and how much harder to have it displaced by 
some officious and blundering friend, on whom we 
must continue to smile, though he — pray it may be 
she ! — has mined a dazzling prospect. What num¬ 
berless occasions, too, are given for the exhibition of 
gallantry. How flattering to one’s sense of impor¬ 
tance to be entreated on all sides to do something or 
not to do something else, and how vainly the good- 
natured man strives to please everybody. Who can 
resist the appeal of some charmer supplicating him 
to step out of his course, just to make matters straight 
for her approaching turn ? but then, to what re¬ 
proaches is some luckless fellow liable, when in the 
anxiety of the moment he commits some dreadful 
blunder! The best consolation is that the fortune 
of the game constantly is shifting, and the final arbit¬ 
rament, when one rover after another has retired, 
reflects almost as much glory on the vanquished as 
on the victor. In short, the nice adjustment of chance 
and skill make the game invariably interesting, and 
whilst a skilful player has abundant opportunity to do 
himself honor, an indifferent one manages to stum¬ 
ble through in creditable fashion, and do considerable 


10 CROQUET. 

damage to the enemy and favor to his friends by the 
way. 

There is no reason why Croquet should not pre¬ 
serve and extend its popularity. It has, as every¬ 
body soon discovers, the great advantage of being 
an out-door game, not too fatiguing for a delicate 
girl, nor too tame for the most adventurous boy. 
Even a child can readily learn to play it artfully, and 
we should like to see the old gentleman who could 
resist its attractions very long. The only objection 
which can reasonably be urged against it is the un¬ 
necessarily high cost of the implements for sale by 
the toy-makers, and that objection will soon vanish 
when the toy-makers discover, as they soon will, that 
they must reduce their prices, or else purchasers will 
adopt the simple expedient, already successfully em¬ 
ployed, of ordering their sets directly of turners and 
cabinet-makers. Croquet only needs to be known to 
be generally introduced, and we hail the advent of 
every new set (if properly made) as the promoter 
of genuine enjoyment, healthy amusement, and the 
lively interests of society. 

• The implements required in the game of Croquet 

are Balls, Mallets, Arches, and Stakes. So 

Implements. ; 7 

much of the pleasure of the game depends 
upon the fitness of these implements, that we give a 
detailed description which will guide the buyer in 
his selection of a Croquet Box, or in giving orders 
for the construction of a set. 


CROQUET. 


11 


The Balls, eight in number, should be spherical, 
with a circumference of ten inches; if 
larger, they become too heavy to admit of Bal ' s ' 
delicate play; if smaller, firmness of stroke will be 
lost and croqueting will be awkward. Turkey box¬ 
wood is perhaps the best material, owing to its dense¬ 
ness and durability, but it is expensive; of native 
woods, rock-maple is the best, and answers well the 
qualifications of toughness and weight; if the wood 
be less dense, it will be liable to split; a heavier wood 
will not allow sufficient elasticity in the Croquet. 
The balls are distinguished by a separate color, best 
laid on in a belt, which should be painted with three 
coats, since the exposure of the balls soon dulls the 
paint. The best colors are those which are most 
distinct, — black, white, yellowish green, bright blue, 
brown, pink, scarlet, and yellow. 

The Mallets, also eight in number, should be in pro¬ 
portion to the weight of the balls ; where m u t 
the ball is such as we have described, the 
head of the mallet should be made of the same ma- 

3 


terial, cylindrical in shape, with the side slightly hol¬ 
lowed, something after the fashion of a dice-box, 
four inches long, and seven inches in circumference 






12 


CROQUET. 


on the faces, which should be slightly convex. This 
form gives a better balance to the mallet-head, and 
should especially be preferred to the barrel - shape 
sometimes adopted. The handle should be perfectly 
straight, and may be turned from the ash, which is an 
excellent wood for the purpose; to be easily grasped, 
it should be about three inches in circumference at 
the top, very gradually decreasing to the point of 
insertion in the head. Three feet is the best length, 
since this suits both those who use two hands and 
those who use one : circular tracings upon that part 
of the handle that is grasped are of some assistance 
in giving a firmer hold. 'Each mallet should have a 
color corresponding to its ball, painted on the handle 
near its insertion in the head; these colors are not so 
much for the sake of keeping the mallets and balls 
in pairs, as for the purpose of distinguishing the 
players. 

The Arches, ten in number, should be made of 

round rod-iron, three-eighths of an inch in 

Arches 

thickness, and should stand, when fixed in 
the ground, twelve inches high, with a width between 
the sides of ten inches. The sides should be upright, 
and sharpened at the ends, to allow of being easily 
fixed in the earth. It is an advantage to have the 
arches painted white, that they may be easily dis¬ 
tinguished, especially at nightfall when they act as 
snares to the excited players of some closing game, 


CROQUET. 


13 


tripping them up in their heedless hurry. It is no 
advantage to paint them of separate colors, as has 
been recommended, to aid the memory of the player; 
any one so inattentive or so weak in memory as to 
forget his arch would only be bewildered by the addi¬ 
tion of a color : so, too, Croquet clips, to mark one’s 
progress, are useless encumbrances, which no player 
in earnest would need or care to be troubled with, 
and which cannot be satisfactory as umpires, since 
the placing of them also depends upon the memory 
and gives rise to new disputes. 

There are two Stakes, which should be two feet 
long and about the thickness of the mallet- 

° StnVoa 


handles, rounded at the top and sharpened 
at the bottom, so as easily to be driven into the 
ground. The upper half of the Stakes are 
painted alike with the eight colors in con¬ 



tiguous rings, and these may be best laid 


on in the following order, beginnina^t 
the top: black, white, yellowish green, 
bright blue, brown, pink, scarlet, yellow. 

A perfect Croquet ground would be one 
laid out permanently for the use of the 
game. A situation would be chosen, shel¬ 
tered as much as possible from the hot 
sun, and bounded by a parapet or em¬ 
bankment, a foot or a foot and a half in jj^ 


height. The field would be in the form 





14 


CROQUET. 


of an ellipse, whose long diameter would be one 
croquet hundred feet, the short sixty feet. It would 
ground. consist of a perfectly level, hard, and smooth 
floor of closely trimmed turf, which would be repeat¬ 
edly rolled, — prepared, in fact, as the best cricket 
grounds are prepared. But these conditions are by 
no means essential; it is desirable only to follow 
them as nearly as circumstances will permit. A 
level surface is the first point to be considered, and 
the next, scarcely less important, is that the ground 
should be hard and even. The use of boundaries 
is generally approved as tending to equalize the play 
of the strong and the weak, and to decrease the 
value of the bludgeon blows which some men seepa 
to think constitute the excellence of a Croquet. 
These boundaries may be indicated easily by natu¬ 
ral limits surrounding the field. The ellipse would 
be the best figure for the enclosure of the field, 
but a rectangle is sufficiently exact; and even irreg¬ 
ular boundaries, made convenient by gravel-walks, 
hardly affect the game seriously. 

The dimensions of the ground are determined by 
the arrangement of the arches, and the distance be¬ 
tween these will frequently be varied, though we 
think the proportions given in the accompanying 
diagram present the best opportunities for skilful 
play. Variations from this plan are also given, and 
others may easily be contrived, but this arrangement 


CROQUET. 


15 


is the standard one, and most generally acceptable. 
One point only is subject to much dispute, and that 
will be considered in the section devoted to variations 
of the game. 

A full party at Croquet consists of two sides of 
four persons each, but any less number upon a side 
can play, an odd player being balanced by Conductof 
allowing one on the opposite side to play the game> 
two balls. The balls being individuals, the eight can 
be played by so few as two persons, each taking four 
balls. Amongst enthusiastic players, however, six 
balls, three on each side, make a better game than 
eight; and many prefer four balls, two on a side, 
as allowing a quicker game. 

Two of the party, acting as chiefs, try for the lead, 
either in the ordinary manner of ball-games, or by a 
trial of skill, each in turn driving a ball from the cen¬ 
tre of the first arch and aiming to lay it nearest the 
stake. The sides are chosen in alternate succession, 
and the players take the balls and mallets in the 
order of colors, designated by the rings on the stake, 
from the top downward. In the order which we 
have recommended, the first chief has black and his 
first selection green; the second chief white and his 
first selection blue, and so on. The players take 
their turn in the order of the colors. 

The object of the game is for each player in turn 
to place his ball a mallet’s length from the starting 


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CROQUET. 


17 


stake and aiming with his mallet to drive the ball 
through the first arch; then to continue his play 
through numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, as indicated by the 
direction of the arrows on the diagram, to strike the 
turning stake; and returning downward through 7, 6, 
8, 9, 10, 2, 1, to go out by striking the starting stake. 
That side wins, all of whose members first perform 
this round. The gape is opened by black, who 
plays till he has missed an arch, when white follows. 
If now there were merely a chase to see who would 
run the round quickest, the game would be a sense¬ 
less one ; the interest is produced by the opportunity 
given to help a friend or hinder an enemy. This 
opportunity the roquet and croquet afford. To ro¬ 
quet a ball is with one’s own ball to strike another; 
and the roquet gives the player the right to croquet, 
which is performed by placing his own ball next to 
the ball just roqueted, holding his ball in position by 
placing his foot upon it and striking it with his mal¬ 
let, so that, his own ball remaining stationary, the 
other is driven off in the direction given by the aim 
of the mallet. Thus, supposing that black, having 
passed successfully through arches 1 and 2, aims at 
3, but reaches, as he probably will, some point a lit¬ 
tle above the arch, he has missed; and white taking 
his turn passes also through 1 and 2, but now, instead 
of attempting the difficult arch 3, he aims at black; 
if he roquets, that is, strikes black with his ball, he 


18 


CROQUET. 


may now croquet black, sending him to the other 
end of the field if he choose, and then being entitled 
to another turn, he drives his own ball, which has 
remained stationary and is in good position, through 
3, and goes on his way rejoicing; while black, wait¬ 
ing until his turn comes round again, has now per¬ 
haps to take two turns before he can get again into 
position behind 3. This is, however, but a very 
slight instance of the use of the croquet; in this 
case, white would very likely, instead of dismissing 
black so far, use him as a tool, by driving him just 
beyond arch 3, where black would be in readiness to 
be croqueted again, and white would continue his 
career, croqueting black and running through the 
next arch to meet him on the other side in an exas¬ 
perating manner. The various uses of the croquet, 
the roquet, and the roquet-croquet, whether to help 
a friend or to hinder an enemy, will readily occur to 
a player in his first game, and all are hinted at in 
the Laws. 

After a player has performed the entire round, with 
the exception of going out by striking the starting 
stake, he becomes a Rover, and is at liberty either to 
go out by striking the stake, or to continue his play 
at large over the field, with all the privileges of a 
Rover as laid down in the Laws. 

I. The game is opened by the. chief who 
has won the first choice of friends. 


Laws. 

The start. 


CROQUET. 


19 


II. The hall must he placed a mallet's length from 
the starting stake , on a line drawn to the centre of 
the first arch, 

III. The hall must he struck with the face of the 
mallet's head; the stroke of the mallet being delivered 
whenever , touching the hall , it moves it. 

[It is unnecessary to impose a law that the stroke 
should be a blow rather than a push. No good 
player would use the latter method except in posi¬ 
tions where the former is absolutely impossible.] 

IV. The player continues to play so long 0rderofplay> 
as he makes a point in the game. 

[These points are: making one or more arches at 
a stroke; performing the roquet (except on a booby), 
the croquet, or the roquet - croquet; striking the 
turning stake, together with the combination of any 
two or more of these.] 

V. The players on the two sides follow the first 
chief alternately, according to the order of colors upon 
the starting stake. 

1. If any ball is played out of its proper turn and 
challenged before the play of another ball has com¬ 
menced, the misplayed ball may be returned to its 
original place, or permitted to remain in that to which 
it has rolled, at the option of the enemy; and if a 
ball so misplayed have gained any advantage for 
itself or its friends, or done any injury to the enemy, 
the latter duly challenging may strip the misplayed 


20 


CROQUET. 


ball of the advantages thus gained, and repair the 
damages sustained. 

2. If the enemy permit the misplay, or there is no 
challenge, the misplayer cannot use his next turn, 
since he has anticipated it. 

3. A player using a wrong ball must suffer, and 
not the owner of the ball: hence, if the misplay is 
discovered before the next turn, the ball must be re¬ 
stored, the consequences removed, and the misplayer 
deprived of his turn ; if the misplay be not discov¬ 
ered before the next turn, the game proceeds without 
remedy to either party. 

YI. The arches must he passed through 
in their regular order in the direction of the 

course. 

[Hence, to pass through an arch out of the regular 
order, or from the wrong side, counts no more than 
to pass over any other part of the field.] 

VII. A ball makes its arch , if it passes through it 
in regular order , only when it is driven through by a 
blow from its owner's mallet , or passes through by 
roquet , croquet , roquet-croquet , or concussion. 

1. A ball is through its arch, if the handle of the 
mallet, when laid across the two piers of the arch 
upon the side whence the ball came, does not touch 
the ball. 


CROQUET. 


21 



2. A ball passing through its arch in the wrong 
direction, and not passing clear through, is not in 
position to be driven back in the right direction. 

VIII. If a ball makes two arches in regular order 
by a direct blow of the mallet , it has the right to take 
ground up to one malleis length in any direction from 
the spot where it rested. If it run three arches under 
the same conditions , it can take ground up to two 
lengths of a mallet. 

[This rule must not be interpreted to conflict with 

VII.] 

IX. Striking the turning stake is in all respects 
equivalent to making an arch , is subject to 

L ° Stakes. 

the same conditions , and entitled to the same 
advantages , when these are applicable ; but the stake 
may be struck from any quarter. 


22 


CROQUET. 


X. A ball , after it has completed the round , makes 
the starting stake either by a blow from its owner's 
mallet , or by roquet , roquet-croquet , croquet , or cow- 
cussion. It is then a dead ball , and is removed from 
the field. 

XI. .A 6a// roquets another , whether it proceeds di¬ 

rectly by a blow of the mallet or rebounds 
Ko<luet ' upon it after the blow , from an arch , a stake , 
or any other fixed obstacle of the ground , or from 
another ball. 

1. A ball having roqueted another may strike it 
again without any intervening play, but the second 
contact does not constitute a roquet. 

2. A ball having made roquet is at liberty either 
to make croquet or to proceed on its round. 

3. A ball striking another ball, after having cro¬ 
queted it, and without any intervening play, termi¬ 
nates its tour. 

XII. A ball can croquet only that ball on 
croqiiet. yjjfeh fa j ias ma de roquet. 

[Hence, a booby cannot croquet or be croqueted.] 

1. A player may croquet any number of balls con¬ 
secutively, but he cannot croquet the same ball twice 
during the same turn, without first sending his own 
ball through the next arch in order. 

2. In making ricochet, the player is at liberty to 
croquet either the first, or all of the balls roqueted, 
but the order of croquet must be that of the ricochet. 


CROQUET. 


23 


3. A croquet is proved by the stirring of the ball 
croqueted, provided that the mallet has struck the 
ball croqueting. 

4. If a ball roquet another and at the same blow 
make its arch, it may proceed to croquet the roqueted 
ball, or decline and again roquet upon it before tak¬ 
ing the croquet. 

5. If a ball flinch in the execution of croquet, the 
croquet is null, the croqueted ball must be returned 
to its position, and the croqueting ball proceed with 
its turn, without the right to repeat the croquet just 
missed. 

XIII. The laws of roquet-croquet are the same as 
those of croquet. 

XIV. A Rover may not croquet the same Rover. 
ball twice in one turn. 

A croquet or roquet - croquet alone permit the 
rover to continue his play. 

XV. If a ball in its progress over the ground be 
interrupted by any one , the person playing interruption 

and displace- 

may allow it to remain where it rested after ment - 
the interruption , or carry it to the point which he re¬ 
gards as its probable termination. 

A ball accidentally displaced must be returned 
to the place where it was lying, before theplay pro¬ 
ceeds. 

XVI. No play is permitted outside of the boundaries. 

A ball driven over the boundary may be brought 


24 


CROQUET. 


back to the point where it crossed, when its turn 
arrives. 

XVII. An arch or stake losing its upright position , 
by any means , must be restored before the game pro¬ 
ceeds . 

The most common variations in the arrangement 















CROQUET. 


25 


of the arches are shown in the accompanying dia¬ 
grams. Others will suggest themselves. Variations 
The point however most subject to dispute ofthe e ame - 
and most important in its bearings on the game, 
is, whether the arches marked on our diagram (p. 16) 
3 and 10, should be on a line with or in advance 
















26 


CROQUET. 


of 2 ; the same also as regards 5 and 8 as related to 
6. The authorities are divided on the question, and 
it must be settled by individual players, if it cannot 
be shown that one arrangement is undoubtedly supe¬ 
rior to the other. In our opinion, a mean may be 
taken between the position advocated by Mayne 
Reid, that places the arches on a line, and that adopted 
by Jacques, which allows a distance of eight feet 
between 2 and the line of 3 and 10. The former 
arrangement is objectionable because of the extreme 
difficulty of one’s making the third arch upon his 
first run, and the latter because of the great ease in 
the same case. The difficulties of Croquet ought 
not to be insurmountable, else skill will be ineffectual, 
and the possibility of making an artistic point will 
be lost; neither should the difficulties be so removed 
as to leave no room for the exhibition of superior 
skill. In our diagram we have made the distance 
between 2 and the line of 3 and 10 three feet, which 
gives a very small angle at 3, and makes the chance 
of going through the arch a slight one, and yet offers 
a premium upon skill. Even in this case a player 
will hardly accomplish it, unless, having made his 
first two arches at a single stroke, he takes his mal¬ 
let’s length backward on a line toward the starting 
stake. 

There is another deviation from the rules laid down 
in the preceding pages, which permits the player on 


CROQUET. 


27 


starting to place his ball on any spot a mallet’s length 
from the starting stake. The advantage to be se¬ 
cured by this seems to exist chiefly where the arches 
3 and 10 are considerably in advance of 2; the 
player, by starting from a spot a mallet’s length to 
the right of the starting stake, may, at his first blow, 
send the ball obliquely through 1, and be then in 
position to send the ball in the reverse oblique 
through 2, when it is more favorably placed to pro¬ 
ceed through 3 than if projected in a right line 
through 1 and 2 from the stake. But it seems fair¬ 
est to have perfect uniformity in the start. If all 
start from the fixed spot, the beginning of the game 
is even, and skill must win its advantages afterward. 

Again, it is asserted by some law-givers that the 
rover alone is entitled to the use of the roquet-cro¬ 
quet. But surely there is no need to increase the 
rover’s advantages, since his chances of mischief¬ 
making and helping are already superior to those of 
the others, inasmuch as he has never to keep anx¬ 
iously near his next arch; and the use of roquet- 
croquet adds so much to the zest and variety of the 
game, that no one who has freely employed that del¬ 
icate stroke would wish to resign it to the rover. 
Whatever gives scope to a player’s skill without 
increasing too greatly the inequalities of chance 
ought to be permitted; and it may be observed that 
the very delicacy of a splitting stroke, as in billiards, 


28 


CROQUET. 


makes the operation a hazardous one to an indiffer¬ 
ent player. 

There are a few suggestions for new players, which 
Hints to may not be amiss. The game of Croquet 
players. gains a great deal of its popularity from 
the graceful character of the play, and certainly 
there is no more pleasing sport to watch for the 
attitudes and the easy exercise of the body which it 
produces. But some persons are so regardless of 
this, that one sees a gentleman croqueting a ball as 
if he were about to slaughter an ox ; pressing his foot 
firmly upon the ball, clenching his teeth, swinging 
his mallet high in the air, coming down with a 
thwack upon the ball, and then looking with an air 
of ill-concealed triumph at the flight of the croqueted 
ball to some dim distance. This is all folly ; excel¬ 
lence in the croquet rarely consists in the distance 
one may dismiss a ball; moreover, one may soon dis¬ 
cover that a firm tap from the mallet of a delicate 
lady, properly directed, will send the ball quite as 
far as the unhappy owner can deprecate. 

The handling of the mallet, too, though subject to 
no rules, should obey the law of grace ; sometimes 
the position of the balls may require that most awk¬ 
ward of attitudes when a gentleman, holding his 
mallet with both hands directly in front of him, use§ 
it as a street-pavier swings his hammer ; and begin¬ 
ners usually grasp the handle with both hands and 


CROQUET. 


29 


swing it from the side; but very little practice will 
show one that to hold it in one hand and swing it 
from the side gives the finest blow and is most 
graceful. 

With all deference we suggest to ladies that, where 
it is possible, they should dress with some regard to 
the requirements of the game ; it is hardly condu¬ 
cive to elegance to behold a half dozen officious 
young gentlemen hovering about a lady as train- 
bearers and fly-catchers whenever she wishes to per¬ 
form the croquet, and we protest against those sweep¬ 
ing skirts that whisk the balls about and change the 
whole feature of the field. 

To enthusiastic players it will be unnecessary to 
give our concluding advice : mind your turn of play. 
What is more naggling to players interested in the 
game than to call out Blue! Blue ! and, after repeated 
calls, to discover Blue politely talking with Pink at 
the other end of the field, or perhaps even lazily 
stretching himself on the grass and starting out of a 
drowse with an open-mouthed astonishment that his 
turn should have come round again so soon, and 
requiring to be informed of the position of his ball 
and what it has next to do ? One may be good- 
natured under such circumstances, but on the Mark 
Tapley principle. Better, far better, is that deafen¬ 
ing racket which one sometimes hears on a croquet 
ground, where, at some great gathering of balls of all 


30 


CROQUET. 


colors, the next player is besought, teased, adjured 
to do seven different things for the interest of seven 
other people, and warned, threatened, supplicated 
not to do any one of them. 

We close our handbook with a list of those terms 
in use in the game which need explanation. It would 
be easy to pick up or invent a multitude of slang ex¬ 
pressions for all possible contingencies, but we adhere 
to our principle of presenting Croquet in its sim¬ 
plicity. Those who like such phrases can exercise 
their inventive powers in language. But it is quite 
possible to describe any position or movement in the 
game by means of these few technical terms and the 
vocabulary of English at the command of any per¬ 
son intelligent enough to play the game. 

A Booby. A ball that has attempted to 
make the first arch and fails. 

Concussion. The displacement of a ball by an¬ 
other driven against it by roquet, croquet, ricochet, 
or roquet-croquet, and not hit directly either by the 
mallet or by the playing ball. 

The Croquet. A ball having made roquet on 
another is taken up and placed in contact with the 
ball on which it has made roquet. The player sets 
foot upon the former, presses firmly so as to hold it 
in place, and with a blow of the mallet drives the 
roqueted ball in whatever direction may be desired. 


CROQUET. 31 

A Dead Ball. A rover struck against the start¬ 
ing stake, and therefore struck out of the game. 

A P^Linch. When the ball in the act of cro¬ 
quet slips from under the foot of the player. 

Position. A ball is in position when it lies in 
front of its proper arch, with a possibility of running 
it by a single blow of the mallet; and out of posi¬ 
tion, when the contrary is the case. 

Ricochet. A ball making roquet on two or more 
balls by the same blow of the mallet. 

Roquet. A ball makes roquet when, proceeding 
from a blow of the mallet, it comes in contact with 
another ball. 

Roquet-Croquet, or Croquet sans pied. A ball 
having made roquet is taken up, placed contiguous 
to the roqueted ball, and, without being held under 
the foot, is struck by the mallet and driven — as also 
the roqueted ball — in the direction or directions 
desired. 

A Rover. A ball that has made the round, but 
has not yet gone out by striking the starting stake. 

Salt River. A side is sent up Salt River when 
none of its members go out. 




































































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